Quick pipe connector

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to a pipe and tubing connector adapted to quickly and easily connect unthreaded pipe to a hollow body with a fluidtight seal, in which a variety of different pipe and tubing sizes may be accommodated. The pipe or tubing is tightly clamped to resist withdrawal from the connector, and electrical continuity is supplied between the pipe or tubing and the conduit.

United States Patent ,ien.id,i"i2

Burkhalter, Jr.

[54] QUICK PIPE CONNECTOR [72] Inventor: Robert Burkhalter, Jr., FortAtkinson,

Wis.

[73] Assignee: Morton-Norwich Products, llnc., Chicago,

Ill.

[22] Filed: Nov. 24, 11969 [21] Appl. No.: 879,377

[52] US. Cl ..285/177, 285/322, 285/348, 285/354 [51] Int. Cl ..Fl6l55/00 [58] Field o1Search..... ...285/177,322,323,324, 340, 285/348, 354

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,958,548 11/1960 Vienne eta1 ..285/l77 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 673,408 11/1963 Canada.285/340 244,253 12/1925 Great Britain 285/177 379,413 9/1932 GreatBritain .285/323 916,070 1/1963 Great Britain .285/340 PrimaryExaminer.lacob Shapiro Assistant Examiner-David H. CorbinAttorney-Pendleton, Neuman, Williams & Anderson [57] ABSTRACT 4 Claims,4', Drawing Figures PATENIEU M18537? 3.635.502

lNVfNTOAS QUICK PIPE CONNECTOR BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION In manysituations it is desirable to quickly and easily connect afluid-carrying pipe or length of tubing to a separate conduit formed asa part of, or connected to, a utilization device or the like. Theconventional manner of connecting pipe requires that the pipe bethreaded, which requires special equipment. Threading also requires theexpenditure of a great deal of time, and the exercise of considerableskill. It is, therefore, desirable that the need for threading beavoided. It is also desirable that the conduit be connected to varioussizes of pipe, without the use of multiple threaded adapters, so that aconnection may quickly be made to a range of different size pipes.

It is also important to furnish electrical continuity between the supplypipe and the conduit by means of metal-to-metal contact between the pipeand the conduit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, a principal object of thepresent invention to provide a quick pipe connector adapted to furnish afluidtight seal between a conduit and a variety of different sizes ofpipe.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such aconnector which furnishes electrical continuity between the pipe and theconduit.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a connectorwhich does not require that the pipe be previously threaded.

These and other objects of the present invention will become manifestupon an examination of the description and the accompanying drawings.

In one embodiment of the present invention there is provided a connectorhaving a hollow body, and a cap member threadably secured in coaxialrelation with the body, the cap member having a coaxial aperture toreceive a pipe projecting therethrough into said body and a shoulderinterior of said aperture, a conical washer surrounding the pipe andbearing against the shoulder of said cap member, a grip washersurrounding said pipe inwardly of said conical washer, and a backupwasher surrounding said pipe inwardly of said grip washer, said bodyhaving a conduit communicating with the end of the pipe and having ashoulder surrounding an end of said conduit for hearing against saidbackup washer.

DESCRIPTION Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. I is a vertical crosssectional view of an illustrative embodimentof the present invention associated with a pipe of relatively largediameter;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. Iassociated with a pipe of relatively small diameter;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIGS. 1and 2 associated with a pipe of intermediate cross section; and

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of apparatus embodying thepresent invention associated with the maximum pipe size which it canaccommodate.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a connector 9 embodying the present inventionemploys a body 10 and a cap member 11, threadably connected to the body10 by means of threads 12. The cap member 11 extends outwardly from theend of the body 10 and terminates in an inwardly projecting flange 13having a shoulder 14 on its interior side and a central aperturereceiving a pipe 15. Inwardly of the'flange I3 is disposed a conicalwasher 16, having the form of a hollow truncated cone, with a centralaperture to receive the pipe 15.

A grip washer l7 surrounds the pipe 15, inwardly of the conical washer16, and is formed of a ring-shaped strip of metal. The ends of the stripforming the grip washer 17 do not meet, but are spaced apart by a gap18. Inwardly of the grip washer I7 is a backup washer 19, having a pairof rigid washers 20 and 21 spaced apart by a washer 22 formed ofresilient material such as rubber or the like. The grip washer i7 andthe backup washer 19 both have central apertures to receive the pipe I5.

The interior end of the grip washer 17 bears on the exterior surface ofthe washer 20, and pushes it inwardly toward the body 10. This in turncompresses the washer 22 and forces it against the washer 21. The washer21 is restrained from inward motion by means of a shoulder 23, formed bya counterbore coaxial with the internal conduit 24 of the body I0.

In operation, the cap member 11 is first placed on the pipe 15, followedby the conical washer 16, the grip washer I7, and the backup washer 19.The end of the pipe 15 is then placed within the body 10, so that thebackup washer l9 abuts the shoulder 23. The cap member 11 is thenthreaded onto the body 10 until tight. During tightening, the conicalwasher l6 urges the grip washer 17 rightwardly and also radiallyinwardly against the pipe I5. This compresses the grip washer I7 andalso compresses the resilient washer 22. The resilient washer 22 isurged outwardly into contact with the interior surface 25 of the body10, and is also urged inwardly against the pipe 15. The resilient washer22 thus furnishes a fluidtight seal between the pipe 15 and the body 10.In addition, the radially inward urging of the grip washer 17 grips thepipe 15 tightly to prevent it from being extracted from the connector.Electrical continuity is furnished from the pipe 15 and the grip washerI7 through the conical washer I6, the cap member I1 and the body 10.

The same connector may be employed with a variety of different sizes ofconical washers to cooperate with a variety of pipe sizes. In FIG. 2,where a small size pipe 26 is illustrated in cooperation with theconnector 9, a larger conical washer 27 is employed. The washer 27 has acentral section 28 formed as a hollow truncated cone with a centralaperture, and an outer plane flange 29. FIG. 3 shows an intermediatesize pipe 30 connected to the connector with an intermediate sizeconical washer 31, formed with a hollow truncated conical center section32, and an outer plane flange 33" smaller than the flange 29 used forthe smaller pipe. FIG. 4 shows a large size pipe 38, connected directlyto the connector without any conical washer, with the beveled surface 39of the cap member 11 bearing directly on the grip washer 40. In eachcase, the grip washers 34, 35 and 40, respectively, are of the suitablediameter to surround the tightly grasp the pipe, and the apertureswithin the backup washers 36, 37 and 41, respectively, are also of asize appropriate to the pipe. The same body 10 and cap member 11 areemployed for all four sizes.

The body I0 may be connected to or part of a utilization device, such asa faucet or a dishwasher; or a conduit such as a hose or the like. Thebody 10 can be connected to any of a variety of sizes of unthreaded pipesimply by selecting the correct size conical washer, grip washer, andbackup washer. The electrical continuity achieved inherently in theconnector allows its employment with water pipe used as an electricalground connection, and makes it suitable also for use with electricalconduit, especially where such conduit is used to contain a fluid (e.g.such as gasunder-pressure) or to keep fluid (e.g. such as water) fromentering the conduit. The connector of the present invention can alsoadvantageously be used with flexible tubing such as copper tubing. Thesizes of the grip washer and the conical washer are chosen to cooperatewith the diameter of the tubing. The rigidity of the connectionfurnished by the connector makes it possible to support the body 10 viathe pipe connected to it. or vice versa.

What is claimed is:

I. A quick pipe connector adapted to accommodate a variety of pipe sizescomprising a hollow body, a cap member threadably secured in coaxialrelation to said body, said cap member having a coaxial aperture toreceive a pipe and a cap shoulder interior of said aperture, said pipehaving one of a plurality of sizes and projecting through said coaxialaperture into said body, a grip washer surrounding said pipe inwardly ofsaid cap shoulder, said grip washer comprising a ring-shaped stripformed in a circle with the ends of said strip spaced apart, and abackup washer surrounding said pipe inwardly of said grip washer, saidbackup washer comprising a' pair of rigid washers with a resilientsealing member disposed between said rigid washers, said bodysurrounding said backup washer and having a conduit communicating withthe end of said pipe with a body shoulder surrounding an end of saidconduit, said backup washer bearing against said body shoulder, and areplaceable conical washer having an aperture matched to said pipe sizesurrounding said pipe between said grip washer and said cap shoulder,whereby as said cap member is advanced relative to said body, said capshoulder presses against said conical washer to urge said grip washerinto tighter relation about the pipe, and presses said backup washeragainst said body shoulder to compress said resilient sealing memberinto sealing relationship with said pipe.

2. Apparatus according to claim I, wherein said body and said cap membercooperate to form a fluidtight connector between said body and saidpipe, said conical washer, said grip washer andsaid backup washer allhaving central apertures slightly greater than the diameter of saidpipe.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said conical washer has acentral hollow truncated cone shape with a central aperture to receivesaid pipe, said cone shape extending outwardly from said pipe to engagethe edge of said grip washer with the cap shoulder.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, including a plane flange secured tothe outer periphery of said cone-shaped washer and extending outwardlytherefrom to a radius greater than the radius of the aperture of saidcap member.

1. A quick pipe connector adapted to accommodate a variety of pipe sizescomprising a hollow body, a cap member threadably secured in coaxialrelation to said body, said cap member having a coaxial aperture toreceive a pipe and a cap shoulder interior of said aperture, said pipehaving one of a plurality of sizes and projecting through said coaxialaperture into said body, a grip washer surrounding said pipe inwardly ofsaid cap shoulder, said grip washer comprising a ring-shaped stripformed in a circle with the ends of said strip spaced apart, and abackup washer surrounding said pipe inwardly of said grip washer, saidbackup washer comprising a pair of rigid washers with a resilientsealing member disposed between said rigid washers, said bodysurrounding said backup washer and having a conduit communicating withthe end of said pipe with a body shoulder surrounding an end of saidconduit, said backup washer bearing against said body shoulder, and areplaceable conical washer having an aperture matched to said pipe sizesurrounding said pipe between said grip washer and said cap shoulder,whereby as said cap member is advanced relative to said body, said capshoulder presses against said conical washer to urge said grip washerinto tighter relation about the pipe, and presses said backup washeragainst said body shoulder to compress said resilient sealing memberinto sealing relationship with said pipe.
 2. Apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said body and said cap member cooperate to form afluidtight connector between said body and said pipe, said conicalwasher, said grip washer and said backup washer all having centralapertures slightly greater than the diameter of said pipe.
 3. Apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein said conical washer has a central hollowtruncated cone shape with a central aperture to receive said pipe, saidcone shape extending outwardly from said pipe to engage the edge of saidgrip washer with the cap shoulder.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3,including a plane flange secured to the outer periphery of saidcone-shaped washer and extending outwardly therefrom to a radius greaterthan the radius of the aperture of said cap member.